Rationale: To
be able to read fluently means that a
student has the
ability to read
at a fast, even pace and with expression. For children to
become fluent readers, they must first be able to decode words in the
text
they’re reading. These decodable books must be read over and over again
to gain
fluency. This lesson encourages students to practice reading decodable
books
fast and smooth. Student’s will build fluency by reading these
decodable texts
independently and then timed by a partner for 1 minute.

-Black sharpie
maker to record reading times on the chart. Chart should have two
columns: one
column titled "Number of Words Read" should list vertically numbers
5,10,15,20,25,30,35,40,45,50,55,60,65,70,75,80,85,90,95,100; second
column
titled "Name of Student" to record underneath who read each number of
words in 1 minute.

Procedure: 1. "Hello boys and
girls! Today we are going to practice being SPEEDY READERS! This
means
that we are going to practice how to read fast and smoothly through a
sentence
or a book. Can anyone tell me why it is important for us to read
fast? We
want to read fast and smoothly because it helps us understand what we
are
reading. If we read slowly, sometimes we forget what we already read
and we can
get confused about what is going on. Reading
is more enjoyable when it’s done fast!"

2. "We
are going to start of by practicing reading a sentence I have written
on the
board." The sentence "The dog ran to the black ball." will be
already be written on the board. "I’m going to start of reading this
sentence slowly and then I will read it again faster then faster. When
I speed
up each time, listen how the sentence becomes easier to understand. Also, by practicing reading this sentence over
and over again, I can begin to read it smoothly and faster.
Listen to me:
"Thhheee ddooogggg rraaannn ttooo
tthhhhee bbblllaacck bbbaaall." "Do we all hear how the sentence
is better when we read it faster?"

3.
"Boys
and girls, now it’s your turn to try. Each of you are going to
get a book
that I want each of you to become fluent readers with. So this
means that
we are going to use these books to practicing reading fast and smooth.
Once I
have given you a book, I want you to spread out and find your own place
to sit
and read. I want you to read the book smoothly and fast, like I
practiced
on the board.

4.
"The
book that I am passing out for you to read is called Bob is Lost.Bob is a puppy dog who belongs to Ned. Bob
runs away and gets lost. Ned decided he has to hunt for Bob. Ned looked
high
and low for Bob. To find out if Ned ever gets Bob back, you are going
to have
to read this book."

5.
"Now
that we all have a book and we are excited to read it, I want all of
you to go
and find your quiet place in the room by yourself. Read the book to
yourself
until you have become fluent reading it. When you think you are
finished
becoming fluent with your book, come back to circle and sit quietly."

6.
"Now
that everyone is back sitting down in the circle, I am going to give
each of
you a partner. I will give each pair a piece of paper on a clipboard
and a
pencil. The pair will, again, pick a place to sit in the room away
from
other pairs. One partner will be the recorder and one partner will be
the
reader. When I say Go, the reader will begin reading the book again for
one
minute. At one minute I will say stop. When I say stop, count up all
the words
you have read and tell them to you partner who will write the number
down on
the paper. Then you will switch and the other person will
read. Any
questions?"

7.
"Now
that both of you in each group has read for a minute, everyone needs to
come up
to the circle again because we are going to record our times on this
big chart.
Each of you will write your name beside the number of words you read."

8.
"Look at
what good and fast readers you all are! After more practice, you can
become
even more fluent readers!"

Assessment: Individually, teacher can
look at the chart used during the lesson
to see their student’s fluency. She can look at how many words each
student
read in one minute. Also, teacher can have children do this lesson over
with
another book, maybe a more challenging decodable text, to see where
their level
of fluency is.